MV LUTUF: Puntland Rejects Mogadishu’s Military Rescue Claim as Reports Point to $2.5 Million Ransom

The release of the MV LUTUF, the vessel carrying Turkish military equipment that was hijacked off Puntland’s coast, has opened a new dispute over what actually ended the standoff. Somalia’s Federal Government has presented the outcome as a successful Somali Turkish military operation, while Puntland has rejected that account and says the vessel was released after ransom negotiations.

Mogadishu announced on August 29 that Somali and Turkish forces had completed a 10 day operation in which 14 alleged pirates were killed and four boats destroyed. According to the Federal Ministry of Defence, sustained military pressure eventually forced the remaining hijackers to abandon LUTUF.

Puntland says that account is false.

In an official statement issued the same day, Puntland’s Ministry of Security and DDR said no military operation by Somalia and Türkiye rescued the vessel. Instead, the ministry alleges that ransom money was paid to secure its release and that officials within the Federal Government helped facilitate negotiations with the hijackers.

Puntland went further, saying it possesses recorded telephone communications between senior federal officials and those holding MV LUTUF. The ministry says those communications show federal officials were involved in facilitating the ransom process.

Separate reporting by Somali Guardian and The Somali Digest places the alleged ransom at approximately $2.5 million. Puntland’s official statement says ransom was paid but does not itself specify the amount.

The controversy is also tied to the deadly strikes that occurred along Puntland’s Nugaal coast while LUTUF was being held.

Strikes near Garmaal and Jiifle reportedly killed 13 people, four in one incident and nine in another. Puntland has directly accused Türkiye of carrying out the attacks and says civilians and fishermen were killed. Puntland also says its criminal investigators have documented evidence concerning the casualties and the fishing boats that were destroyed.

Mogadishu has since announced that 14 pirates were killed during the LUTUF operation, but it has not publicly identified those individuals or explained where and when they were killed.